Danny Sullivan was born in Louisville, Kentucky and drove in his first race in 1972 in a Formula Ford in England. In 1974, Danny finished second in the British Formula 2 championship series and fourth in the European Formula 3 championship series. In 1975, Danny had five wins, four poles, five lap records and twelve top-6 finishes in twenty starts in Formula Racing before moving into endurance racing in 1977.

In 1982, Danny began his Indy Car career as he finished third at Atlanta on May 1st and qualified for the 13th starting spot at 196.292 mph at the Indianapolis 500. In 1984, Danny earned his first Indy Car victory at Cleveland on July 8th and finished first at Pocono and Sanair, second at the Meadowlands and third at Mid-Ohio and finished fourth in the PPG Cup standings.

In 1985, Danny led 67 laps and won his first Indy 500. Danny started eighth for the Penske Team, after qualifying at 210.298 mph, and made one complete spin coming out of Turn 1 after passing Mario Andretti for the lead on Lap 120, but regained control and passed Mario for the lead on Lap 140 and the race was Danny's. Danny won the final at Miami, had six top-5 finishes and was fourth in point standings in PPG Cup competition.

In 1988, Danny broke the one lap track record at the Indy 500 with a lap of 217.749 mph and led the race for ninety-one of the first ninety-four laps before hitting the wall on Turn 1 and finishing twenty-third. In the PPG Cup competition, Danny earned his first national title on the basis of victories at Portland, Michigan, Nazareth and Laguna Seca.

In 1994, Danny earned a position in his first NASCAR Winston Cup field by qualifying for the Brickyard 400.

Danny was quite active off of the race car circuit as he performed as an automobile racing television commentator and participated in swimming, skiing, snowmobiling, basketball, tennis, soccer, racquetball and squash when not racing automobiles.